By Khairul Khalid
Puncak Niaga has denied agreeing to a takeover of their water assets, according to a filing at Bursa Malaysia late yesterday.
“Puncak wishes to update that to date, the company has neither concluded nor entered into any definitive agreement (relating to water restructuring) with the Selangor state government as discussions are still ongoing with the federal government and the Selangor state government on the matter,” said the statement.
This would seem to contradict a recent joint statement by Kettha (Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water) minister Maximus Ongkili and Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Khalid Ibrahim that Puncak Niaga and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) have finally agreed to a state government takeover for RM5.58 billion.
Khalid also stated yesterday that he expects the water restructuring exercise to complete within 3-6 months and has submitted an action plan to Putrajaya.
“Once the discussions are concluded and a formal offer is received by the company, the company will make the requisite announcement to the exchange as required under the listing requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad and will also make the necessary arrangements to table the said offer to the extraordinary general meeting of the company to be convened in due course for the shareholders’ consideration and decision as it is ultimately a matter to be decided by all shareholders of the company,” added Puncak Niaga in the statement.
Rozali Ismail
Rozali Ismail, chief executive officer (CEO) of Puncak Niaga and Syabas (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) had previously conceded to a state takeover. Nevertheless, shortly after Putrajaya’s approval of WSIA, Rozali appealed to Selangor to reconsider the lapsed RM9.65 billion offer.
Puncak Niaga owns two of the four water concessions in Selangor including a 70% stake in Syabas, the sole water distributor of water in the state. The other water concessionaires are Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor (Splash) and Konsortium Abass, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Selangor state.
The remaining concessionaire to still stall on a deal with the state is Splash (Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor) who has been adamant that Selangor’s last takeover offer falls well short of their NAV (net asset valuation) of RM2.5 billion.
To recap, early last month, the federal government enacted WSIA after three out of the four concessionaires failed to agree on the last offer of RM9.65 billion stated in the MoU (memorandum of understanding) to resolve the longstanding water restructuring issue.
Section 114 of WSIA provides for the forced takeover of the water assets under circumstances of national interest.
Nevertheless, despite the cabinet’s approval of WSIA, there has been reluctance by the federal government enforce it and Putrajaya has still insisted for a “willing buyer willing seller” deal between state and concessionaires.
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